Not a Soap Opera..It's the Real Deal!!

Off and on all my adult life, I have kept up in someway with a couple of soap operas that were around when I was just a preschooler. They have finally been done away with. It's bittersweet, for I enjoyed the chilling out time, but I knew in my innermost being, I needed to be obsessed with something more worthy of my time. I mean, it really is just a bunch of slut stuff going on, to be quite honest. I rationalized it by saying only a stable person who cannot be swayed into the fantasy life should be allowed to watch (meaning no children under 18 yrs. of age). I would in the old days record them on the vcr and of course now the dvr. Isn't technology great! After cleaning houses all day or late at night while Wayne was working, I could settle into an hour and a half of uninterrupted unrealistic world of soaps. Well, that era of my life has passed and even though I don't have a specific chilling out time, I'm glad it's over.

The real love story is a true story as told from the eyes of the witness..me!

I'm part of a group who goes to an assisted living home every Sunday afternoon to serve the residents ice cream and sing hymns and praise songs with them. This particular day, I was making my way around, as someone else was leading the music. I sat to visit and sing with a sweet lady named Dolly. I asked her what had happened to put her husband, Bob in the hospital. She proceeded to tell me the story and stressed he had been there 3 weeks and she wanted to see him so bad. I asked, "you haven't seen Bob in 3 weeks? Could you if you had a ride?" She said yes she could but had been unsuccessful of getting a ride. I told her I would pick her up at 9a.m. Monday. She was elated!!! It doesn't take much to make someone's day. I was on my way there the next morning and a thought came to mind... I might not be able to get her in my truck. Sure enough, I got to her apartment, helped her dress and realized she was totally dependent on the wheel chair and could barely stand up and even then not by herself. When I asked what kind of help I could expect from the aids, the aid was confident they could help me, but was concerned about the help on the other end of the ride. I understood completely. This of course upset Dolly and was now very tearful thinking she came so close to seeing her life-love. Things clicked in my head (finally). I told them I'd be back in 30 minutes driving a toyota corolla (my daughter's car).

I'm back with the little car......let the fun begin!!! I lifted her to her feet, holding her up as she shuffled her feet around so as to have a seat in the car. Swung her feet around, seatbelted her, shoved the wheelchair in the backseat and we were off!!!

Got to our destination and reversed the procedure and up the elevator we went. We wheeled into his room and caught him sleeping. Took him awhile I think to realize he wasn't dreaming.

They had him sitting up part way in a hospital type recliner with no weight bearing down on his legs. I quickly shoved the bed over as far as I could and wheeled her right up next to him so they could hold hands. (fyi...anytime you see this couple they would be holding hands)

I went out for a few minutes to make some phone calls, to give them a bit of privacy. I didn't stay out long, just in case I was needed, I sat in the corner of the room. There I listened to the sweetest sounds to my ears in quite sometime. 'I love you'; 'I love you too'; I'I think about you all day and all night'; 'cry when I go to bed'; 'why do you cry?'; 'well, I cry because I love you, I cry b/c I miss you, I cry b/c I worry about you, I cry b/c I want you home with me, I cry b/c I'm lonely, that's why I cry'; 'Don't cry, don't worry, I will be home to hold you tight, soon'; 'you should have seen the our little squirrel outside our window, this morning, he kept trying to climb the pole to the feeder and sliding down, jumping to climb and sliding down again,ha!ha!; 'ha,ha, ha, ha, ha,!!!

I can't possibly go on as she did. She's like the everready bunny, she can go on and on and on. Just one story after another and he just looked into her eyes and listened to every word she spoke as the smile on his face clearly stated how much he loves her. They laughed together and she continued telling her stories. At different times, telling one another 'I love you'; 'I love you MORE'; 'how do you know that, b/c I love you the most ever'.

Towards the end of the visit, she told him she was going to stand up and if he would lean over in the chair towards the edge, she'd give him a kiss. That's when I came out from the corner. Got in front of her, on the count of 3 lifted her up and held her while they gave one another kiss after kiss. I was so amazed at their affection for one another, I totally forgot I was pretty much right in the middle of it. Then it felt weird. Just for a moment though, b/c I had been a part of something so sweet and so tender, it was worth it all.

The doctor's nurse came in all cheerful and said he was the highlight of her rounds. He always has a smile and a cheerful spirit. She asked him who his visitors were. He began to introduce us...'this is my wife, the love of my life' and as he continued he began the "cry face". You know, when we first start to cry but we try not to. Yeah, that's the one..he continued to describe Dolly and had to stop. The nurse said don't get all sad, you have visitors, be happy. I said to her...'The only time they cry is when they talk of one another. It's tears of happiness."

Well, after 2 1/2 hours, I thought we should leave, so we commenced to making our way back to Hearthstone Assisted Living. They told their goodbyes and hopes of seeing each other again, soon.

I was the one BLESSED that morning!!! You would think this couple were newlyweds, but they've been married 63 years. And I'm going to guess they have been mostly happy years. They speak to one another as if they are reading loveletters. Do people still write those things??

It's me labeling it as I see it.